Flaherty welcomes over €7.5m in advance payments to 2,045 farmers across Longford

Local Fianna Fáil TD, Joe Flaherty, has welcomed the commencement of advance payments under the 2023 Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS).

Deputy Flaherty said: "I was delighted to receive confirmation from my party colleague and Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue, that advance payments under the BISS & CRISS, worth over €7.5 million to over 2,000 farmers across Longford, have commenced.  This equates to approximately 90% of applicants that are currently eligible. "Fianna Fáil in Government recognise how crucial these payments are for family farm income, but also recognise how important they are to businesses across the country bringing a welcome boost in cashflow to the rural economy. We are committed to ensuring that these scheme payments continue to issue in the most efficient way possible to ensure that these vital supports are delivered to farmers in a timely manner.”

 Payments will be visible in farmers’ bank accounts in the coming days and the department will continue to process, as a matter of urgency, all remaining cases for payment as they meet scheme criteria.  Farmers with outstanding requests for documentation from the department to return are urged to take immediate action to allow payments to issue.

To facilitate farmers wishing to contact the department regarding their BISS or ANC payments, extended hours are in place for the Direct Payments Helpdesk. From Tuesday 24 October to Friday 27 October, the Helpdesk will be available up to 8.30pm. Farmers can ring the Helpdesk at 057-8674422. Farmers can also submit any queries they may have online via www.agfood.ie.